At 12:05 pm, on Monday the 28th of October, a Mercedes jeep filled with 400 litres of gasoline drove onto the pavement at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, crashing through the crowd and into a guard rail just opposite the Forbidden City, before catching fire. This terrorist attack in a crowded area killed 2 civilians, and injured a further 38.

There were three people in the Jeep, the driver Usmen Hasan, his wife and his mother, all of whom died in the attack. In the remains of the vehicle police found two meat cleavers, a petrol container, and a flag with religious extremist messages.

Following the attack, five people were detained as suspects. Authorities have stated that the attack was carried out by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a separatist Islamist movement.

So who are the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, and how dangerous are they? What can China and its neighbours in Central Asia do to counter terrorism?

Ni Hao, you're listening to   People In the Know, bringing you insights into the headlines in China and around the world, I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing.

Nathan Wakelin-King speaks to Yan Shuai, an analyst at the Center for Counter-Terrorism studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, and Dr Jim Piazza, Associate Professor in International Politics at Pennsylvania State University in the US.